Friendly Neighborhood Speedster
by YaoiLord
Summary: There's a new superhero keeping a low profile, but moving at fast speed doesn't really help, especially if that kind of ability makes you an internet sensation. Peter would very much like to meet him. On a different note, Peter gets a new chemistry instructor, Mr. Barry Allen.
1. The Crimson Streak

just some plot bunny 1 yr ago. Unbeta-ed.

* * *

Peter was pretty sure that at least a thousand of the views were only from him and Ned alone.

But, _dude,_ they weren't the only one amazed at the new superhero who appeared since last month and could be spotted all around Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn—everywhere in New York, actually. Peter supposed it was a perk of moving at fast speed; you could go everywhere in an instant and could cover more ground. The YouTube videos of the new superhero sightings were mostly just blurs and strong blasts of air zooming past people at first, until there came a handful taken by professional video cameras, while some who learned a few basic video editing were slow motioning their shaky recorded videos to capture the new superhero. They dubbed him (judging by the physique, it was obviously a man) The Red Lightning, Scarlet Zoom, The Ruby Comet, and The Crimson Streak. The last one was the most common name for the superhero, and it was also the term Peter and Ned used for him whenever they would discuss. The Crimson Streak was easily their favorite, and in a city with a bunch of famous superheroes, that was saying something (which Peter was also kind of guilty for when he thought of Stark and the Avengers).

Maybe that was the thing about the Crimson Streak. He wasn't as high profile like any of the Avengers. He was on the down low too, just like the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Nobody has ever gotten near the Crimson Streak to ask him of his right moniker, and the Crimson Streak himself never made any introductions either, simply doing his job of stopping criminals from one borough to another without expecting recognition. He was so cool.

Reddit users called him a speedster, and people at forums often wondered if there were other speedsters out there. Peter and Ned usually spend their lunch breaks making theories as to the origin of Crimson Streak—whether he was an alien like Thor; or a genetically modified individual injected with some serum or a super-secret formula; or somebody who got bitten by a cheetah (Peter reasoned that anything was possible these days; look at him); or probably one of the mutants he heard stories of. Peter was inclined to believe the last one.

There was another YouTube video of Crimson Streak, a CCTV footage taken from a mall nearby Peter's area. There was a mass shooting that happened the day before yesterday around the time of Peter's Physical Ed, and luckily nobody was shot with the help of Crimson Streak who caught every bullet fired before it could hit anybody. Peter was somewhat disappointed they didn't get to meet. It would have been nice to know a fellow around the neighborhood.

Ned downloaded a copy of the footage and did wonders with his newfound skills at video manipulation. Ned had slowed it down enough to watch it as if the Crimson Streak was running at normal speed. Peter was there beside him, watching in rapt attention and fascination as the rest of the video elements were moving at very low speed while Crimson Streak was moving at average speed. They could make out sparks of lightning that seemed to follow the speedster, and though his face was hidden by a cowl and was almost blurred, they could see a circle on his chest with a lightning bolt symbol.

He and Ned exchanged looks they usually shared during their Crimson Streak fanboying, muttering in sync:

"Wicked."

* * *

For once, Peter wasn't busy making a web fluid on the sidelines during his chemistry classes.

A little over a month ago, Midtown High got a new faculty member who replaced Peter's chemistry instructor. Mr. Barry Allen was on the younger side, definitely younger than his predecessor. Peter recalled Flash snickering from his seat when Mr. Allen introduced himself to the class, and Peter could tell that many were having qualms about having a young teacher who looked fresh out of college. But when Mr. Allen cheerfully commented that if Midtown High was Hogwarts, and that as a professor he could take a house points for that snicker, the class instantly warmed up to him with mild chuckles. Mr. Allen assured them that while chemistry was very much like Potions, he was no Professor Snape, earning him a round of laughs, even by Peter.

Mr. Allen was easily the favorite of most students. The females of Peter's peers were fond of pointing out that Mr. Allen was cute and an adorable nerd. They hide their giggles whenever Mr. Allen has his cheeks turned upwards in a grin or a kind smile. Mr. Allen's class was never boring, and he liked cracking jokes and pop culture references that Peter and Ned would get every single time. He wasn't one to dump a load of homework and more concerned at keeping their interest in the subject in and out of school. He would usually assign fun chemistry experiments they could do at home, which Peter and Ned (and sometimes with Aunt May) were more than glad to conduct.

Though what made Peter admire Mr. Allen the most was his intelligence. He was a brilliant chemistry instructor who was also knowledgeable in biology and physics. Mr. Allen mentioned working as a CSI in another city before teaching at Midtown High, and Peter thought that made Mr. Allen all the more interesting.

Peter was in the present time, putting his weight on one foot nervously. He has never seen Mr. Allen pissed, and he honestly believed that wasn't part of his teacher's dictionary, but Peter couldn't help but worry after Mr. Allen asked him to stay after class. He suspected it has something to do with not submitting three due assignments earlier. Ned was in the hallway outside, less anxious than Peter and was peeking through the glass window of the classroom across, making faces to a Chinese schoolmate.

"Mr. Parker. Can I call you Peter?" Mr. Allen asked, casually settling in front of the teacher's desk after arranging the stools. Peter thought he looked much taller this way as he nodded quietly. "Relax. I just want to ask why you didn't hand in your papers."

Peter couldn't exactly tell him that he was stopping burglaries for four nights in a row that he was too worn out to do his homework afterwards. Sometimes, Peter have to give it to them for being bold enough to instigate crimes in a city populated with vigilantes with superpowers. "Um, it's the internship, sir. It might have left me no time this week," Peter said weakly, scratching the back of his head.

Mr. Allen smiled kindly. "I see. Yes, of course, I've heard that you're interning. It tends to slip my mind. Sorry," he said sheepishly. "Which is why I want to give you an extension. Can you make it until Friday?"

"An extension, sir?" Peter repeated to clarify, surprised.

"Mmhmm. Look, you don't strike me as a negligent student, and I believe your excuse. Still, I want to advice a better time management next time. The skill can help you even in that internship of yours. Where is it again?"

"Stark's, sir."

For a moment, Peter was met with a blank, clueless stare. Mr. Allen couldn't possibly _not_ have heard of Mr. Stark, could he? "Oh, right. Good luck then." Mr. Allen grinned, and after a beat, his look of cluelessness was gone.

"Thank you, sir. Expect my submissions this Friday," Peter said gratefully before leaving the room, his lips stretched into a smile.

It was nice to have an understanding teacher.

* * *

 **TBC** (probably)


	2. Acquaintances

In all honesty, Peter wasn't expecting it to happen that night.

He was on his nightly patrol from eight in the evening to twelve midnight—that sometimes extended up to three in the morning if the following day would be weekend—allowing himself to stay up to twelve-thirty only at most because tomorrow would be a school day. Peter was situated on a balcony railing of an old building when he heard a robbery taking place at the 24-hour convenient store opposite it.

"Hey, Karen, can you, uh, do that thermal scan thing where I can hear them?"

" _Sure, Peter. Activating Enhanced Reconnaissance Mode_."

Karen gave him a display showing heat signatures of eight people where seven were armed while there was one by the counter who must be the owner. The number of robbers were way too many for a small convenient store. Talk about unfair.

" _If I may, don't you think it's a little odd that there's a number of them for a small establishment?_ " Karen pointed out.

"What do you mean?"

" _I'll adjust the audio for you._ "

The voices were much clearer this time, and Peter could definitely hear: "Where's the entrance?" instead of the usual script of: "Hand all the money in the register or else."

"What entrance?" Peter asked, puzzled.

" _Activating Extensive Area Scan_." Peter hadn't heard of that one yet. " _There appears to be an underground location with estimated five times the size of the convenient store sitting underneath it, Peter._ "

Peter squinted at the scan that popped out beside the first. "Is that like an underground bunker? What is it for?" The idea was actually cool if it wasn't used for sinister agendas.

" _A conference of five people,_ " Karen said, flashing a different window of thermal scanner from underground. " _I can detect ten more armed men with them, two security for each._ "

Peter pieced the info together. So the men at the convenient store weren't regular robbers, and the people below were probably not the regular kind too. He remembered watching an old mob movie, and the situation here gave off The Godfather vibe. Whatever meeting was taking place underground, it didn't sound like good news.

The question was, who was Peter supposed to hand in to the authorities here?

"Okay, Karen, I'll be sneaking inside. Don't change the default web combination," he made sure to add after remembering his first tweak of web-shooter options.

" _Should I activate the Stealth Mode now or wait for the incoming from thirty-four kilometer west moving at 0.426261 miles per second?"_

Peter was sure there was no car that could move at a little over Mach 2, which meant it was _not_ a vehicle at all. He paused. That could only mean—

As if on cue, a zoom of red and yellow sparks went across the street below, disappearing inside the convenient store Peter was keeping an eye on. Peter could only hear swishes of air and several rustling, and as fast as a single blink, the Crimson Streak made a quick work of the seven armed men. The dazed, but unharmed, store clerk was brought outside by the speedster, and by the time Peter approached, Crimson Streak was already asking the victim to dial 911. Left inside the small space of the convenient store were the former armed men tied together, unconscious, with their weapon piled a few feet away.

If his face wasn't covered, Peter was sure his mouth was hanging open as he watched the Crimson Streak standing there with a hand on the back of the store clerk, comforting him. For the first time, Peter has seen him in person and not as a blur. Crimson Streak's costume was a brighter red from Peter's angle.

Wow, he was more impressive in actual.

" _Peter, one of the security personnel below ascended,_ " Karen warned, cutting Peter's bordering reverent gaze.

It was only then that the speedster noticed him, just as perplexed, but not unkind. "Oh, hello," he said to Peter.

Peter was too distracted with shooting his web to the security guy from below who exited the door behind the Crimson Streak to register how familiar the voice of the speedster was. He pulled the AR-15 away from the man, dropping it along with the pile on the floor.

"There's more of them?" Crimson Streak asked Peter incredulously.

"Fourteen more from below to be exact."

" _Peter, there are several movements below. Five are escaping via tunnel connected to the underground room and can be intercepted one kilometer north. Three stood guard at the tunnel entrance and six are on their way up._ "

Peter raised his hand tentatively despite knowing the speedster's attention was on him. "I'm gonna have to go after the five who escaped with a head start, so if you don't mind, I may have to leave the rest to you… sir?"

Crimson streak shrugged, his mouth forming a slight grin. "Yeah, sure. Go get 'em, kid."

It slipped Peter's mind that he has already seen that grin before, too occupied mulling over that his voice must have sounded like that of an adolescent that even Crimson Streak recognized a boy under the Spider-Man costume.

* * *

No offense, but the five men in suits that Peter chased were not much of a runner, probably because of their, well, bulging weight that their expensive looking suits were barely hiding.

Peter had politely asked that they follow him to the nearest police station for questioning, assuring them that if their business meeting earlier was in regards to a completely legal matter there would be no problems with the authorities. A two or three of them seemed to have taken offense at his statement that they fired a few bullets his way without aim.

His expectation of this going down quietly and with less hurt was thrown out of the window.

So Peter did his job, bringing them outside the nearby police station with a note from him explaining the situation. The police would know what to do with them.

He returned to the previous location, and much to his disappointment he could only see the authorities yellow-taping the area without the presence of the Crimson Streak. It wasn't like the speedster was known to hang around the crime scene afterwards.

What a bummer.

Still, he could tell Ned tomorrow that he and the Crimson Streak worked together tonight, albeit briefly.

" _I should be telling you that there could still be a next time encounter with him, but you have another incoming with the same speed as the one before,_ " Karen said, effectively cutting Peter's glum.

There was a strong gust of wind that went past Peter, stopping a few steps in front of him.

"You're a hard kid to find," Crimson Streak said in greeting after Peter heard a sigh of relief.

"You were looking for me?" Peter asked, unbelieving.

"Of course. I need to thank you for giving me a hand back there," Crimson Streak said. "Thanks, Spider-Man."

Peter gasped quietly. He knew him? "You know me, sir?"

The speedster laughed. "Who doesn't? You're quite famous in the internet." Peter wanted to say that Crimson Streak was too. "And, er, no need to call me _sir_ or anything. It makes me feel kinda old." He awkwardly scratched the back of his cowl.

"Erm, should I call you Mr. Speedster? Oh, I mean, Mr. Crimson Streak! Because that's what they call you… among other things."

Crimson Streak nodded sagely, seemingly aware of his nicknames online. "Personally, I think they all sounded mouthful."

"So what should we call you?"

The speedster's eyes glinted amusedly as he grinned, one of the hands on his hips extending to Peter in a friendly gesture.

"Nice to meet you, Spider-Man. I'm The Flash."

* * *

" _Hey, Happy. Here's my report for tonight. I stopped this crime syndicate meeting that I thought at first was a robbery. I finally met The Flash and we helped each other. He's so fast and so cool! Karen says his speed is at Mach 2, will you believe that? On my way home, I stopped a man climbing the balcony of a two-story, and I honestly thought it was a burglar. Turns out, he just lost his keys so he had to sneak in. I fell victim with that thing again. And, oh, did I tell you that I met The Flash earlier tonight?_ "

* * *

"Who's this _The Flash_?" Tony asked after listening to the recorded call by Peter.

"The kid has been gushing about this new superhero recently. Somebody who can move fast, he said," Happy said listlessly, eyes not leaving the road. Peter was a great kid, and Happy owed him for saving his job, but one could get tired of hearing about his new favorite superhero. Normally, Happy didn't direct those kind of calls to Tony, but after hearing the latest report, it was in Tony's best interest to hear it for himself. God knew how he cared for the kid. "Peter called him Crimson Streak or something."

Alongside the Baby Monitor, Tony pulled up an internet search on the Crimson Streak after googling for _The Flash_ didn't yield any useful result. So far, the feed from the Baby Monitor was the clearest recording about this mysterious speedster.

Karen (the name grew on Tony as well) had given him a recorded speed of this speedster. Tony had only met one speedster in his whole life, Wanda's twin brother, Pietro Maximoff, and as far as he knew, Pietro's speed wasn't on par with The Flash's. It could have been, probably, if the kid didn't die young. Tony knew that was on him too.

Tony paused the video displayed on the Baby Monitor, troubled that like Pietro, The Flash's ability could possibly be from an illegal procedure too.

He would have a word with Peter.

* * *

 **TBC**


	3. Mr Stark

wow, sorry for the late update, guys. been caught up on a lot of stuffs. thanks for the continued support. :)

* * *

"Good job, Spider-Man."

"Same to you, Flash." Spider-Man gave a salute.

Barry sent the masked young man a grin, imitating the gesture, watching the Spider-Man zip away as he called a _good night, school day tomorrow_ past his shoulder. Barry had to admit that he did get curious at times as to who the polite teenager underneath the costume was. In their three weeks of coincidental alliance, Barry couldn't deny their easy partnership. Sure, they didn't know each other beyond their code names, but they have each other's backs. With his politeness and eagerness to help and do good for the people, it wasn't difficult for Spider-Man to earn Barry's respect and trust.

"How's vigilante-ing?" Cisco asked once Barry fitted his suit back to the mannequin, not even looking up from the computer monitor.

"Caught some robbers and a snatcher. Got five boxes of pizza as a reward," Barry said, placing a box at the free space on Cisco's table.

It was only then that Cisco removed his eyes from the screen, giving an elated sound at his first bite, groaning. "I might let us be trapped in this Earth if it meant getting this kind of pizza every day." He swirled on his seat, sighing. "But that might be the case with the lack of progress I'm making."

"C'mon, don't be so hard on yourself. You're the one doing the heavy lifting." Barry lifted a prototype extrapolator that Cisco has been working on since the beginning of the week. It looked exactly as the extrapolator that Cisco gave to Kara before. "What happened to this?"

"Not working." Cisco took another bite, swallowing before he added, "It doesn't respond to the gravitational pull of this Earth."

"Think maybe we should make this a bit bigger?" Barry suggested.

"Thought of that too, but a slightly bigger spectacle is enough to alert something else other than the authorities, apparently." When Barry tilted his head in confusion, Cisco elaborated, "Some hidden organizations and government-related agencies. Understandable, especially when you have a country that was once invaded by aliens and you have a Norse God that comes down here from time to time. Typical day in New York, I bet."

Between the two of them, it was Cisco who was the most learnt of the current and past events of this Earth, mostly due to Cisco retaining that title of 'guy on the chair' for The Flash while Cisco was figuring out why his vibe wasn't working in this Earth. They suspected that it has something to do with the composition of this Earth that was way too different even compared to Earth-38.

"Worked with Spider-Man again?" Cisco asked. He has been familiar to him by listening in through the Flash suit's ear piece, sometimes causing Cisco to snort or laugh in the background at the kid's overflowing energy and comprehensible pop culture references (these, at least, resembled Earth-1's). For some reason, Barry and Cisco could both see their younger selves in the kid.

"Yeah, I did. He left early though. School night, he said."

"That's responsible of him." Cisco nodded in approval. "Hey, I had this thought—what if he's one of Midtown High's students, or better yet, one of _your_ students?"

Barry shook his head amusedly. "Then I'll be inclined to leave less assignment for that student alone. Still, that's a long shot."

"You mentioned that he sounded familiar but can't pinpoint where you heard him. We've only been here for, what, three months now? And the only people you've interacted with more than once aside from me and your students were the old women in the neighborhood who like you."

Fair point. But, honestly, Barry thought it unfair to find out for himself Spider-Man's real identity after Barry outright refused the kid's suggestion of revealing his face to Barry, saying that Spider-Man wasn't obligated to do so. Barry appreciated the thought and assured him that the secrecy didn't mean his trust in Spider-Man lessened.

"And their parents won't appreciate a teacher part-timing as a vigilante."

Barry did a quick sweep of the apartment they were renting, a new garbage bag to be disposed of sitting in a corner. For only two people living together, they have more trash than a family of four, and mainly because they were living off of take-outs and pizzas—Larry's Pizza, mostly.

"Here," Barry said after another swish of air. He shook the pistachio ice cream and a fresh pack of lollipops in front of Cisco. They were the known remedy whenever Cisco was upset, which he usually was when arriving at dead ends to the solution he was forming to get out of this Earth. With Cisco the one to do most of the researching about the Earth they didn't know of, and add to that the sudden absence of his meta-human abilities, Barry supposed he would be less optimistic as well if he was in the same situation.

"You're encouraging my stress-eating," Cisco chided but took them anyway.

More like comfort food, actually, Barry wanted to say. "Your proven method to achieve breakthroughs." He grinned, giving Cisco an encouraging pat on the back.

"Thanks, man," Cisco said sincerely.

"No problem." Barry paused, thoughtful. "Hey, we'll find our way out, alright? Who knows, maybe sooner than we thought."

"Well, not tomorrow, because I'll be out installing new batches of surveillance cameras at Metro-General Hospital."

Barry chuckled. "Of course."

* * *

Barry found himself spending alone the aftermath time of 'cleaning up' for Saturday evening. Spider-Man was nowhere around, and Barry thought amusedly that the kid might be doing his assignment for the weekend. If the situation was reversed and it was Barry who got his meta-human abilities at young age, his super speed would be more convenient in balancing between being a student and a vigilante.

The back of his mind supplied rather unhelpfully that being The Flash didn't make a difference in fixing his chronic lateness at work.

"I'm on my way back, Cisco. You need me to pick up something for you?"

 _Some electric tapes and a meter of twinaxial cable._

Barry had to press the ear piece to hear the last bit clearer after a loud music could be heard getting nearer at Barry's current location. Must be from the loud speakers of a passing car.

 _Get me half a meter of coaxial cable too, and—wait, are you playing_ Highway to Hell _?_

"What? No, that's—"

Barry snapped his head at the sound of the metallic thud behind him. He involuntary took a step back at the… familiar looking metal suit that landed, speakers blearing AC/DC's _Highway to Hell_.

"Um, hello?" Barry asked tentatively after a long beat of silence. Wait. That metal suit... _Iron Man, was it?_

The suit hissed open and revealed a man striding closer to Barry with an appraising look. "Hey there, sonic," the man said, fixing his tie—huh, so you can maneuver a full-bodied metal suit while wearing a formal attire underneath. He gave Barry an all business-like smile that Barry usually see in tax collectors. "You're quite difficult to catch, I'll give you that."

"Thanks?"

 _Barry? Who's that?_

The man— _what's his name again?_ Pretty sure Barry had seen his face in media often; _Cisco would know_ —squinted his eyes at Barry's left ear. "That your friend?"

"Yes, Mister…"

"You wound me," the man said, mock-hurt. "But where's my manners? Tony. Tony Stark."

 _Whoah. What's Iron Man doing there?_

Stark cleared his throat, raising his voice when he said, "I'm here to chat with your friend, Barry Allen. You know what, I'd like to talk to you too, Barry's friend."

Barry stood there, confused and surprised. "How did you—"

Stark opened his arms as some kind of grand gesture, looking around like he was addressing nonexistent audience. "I'm Tony Stark, that's why."

 _Alright, that's a good reason. That man has resources at his disposal to know everything._

"Ditto," Stark said upon hearing Cisco's reply. "I'll get straight to the point. Say, Mr. Allen, why is a man like you who can run as fast as a blue hedgehog has no authentic records as if you suddenly came out of nowhere? And let me guess, your friend is the same too. Sloppy, so I won't assume you're from some notoriously evil organization." Stark crossed Barry's personal space, unbidden. Barry had to give it to Stark; he knew how to make a man taller than him much shorter despite his cool exterior. "I'm more curious though, as to why would you pose as a chemistry instructor in Midtown High."

Barry considered for a moment. He wasn't planning to lie, but the reality sounded so convoluted without proof. "Actually, we _do_ have a good reason, but that means you'll have to believe me however ridiculous I might sound."

He could detect a hint of challenge at Stark's smirk. "Do your worst."

Barry removed his cowl, sighing in both relief and wary. This would be the first time that he would be sharing their situation to a native of this Earth, and depending on how Stark would take Barry's story would determine the outcome.

"First off, we're not from around here. Actually, we're from—"

"Mr. Stark!" Spider-Man landed between Barry and Stark, stopping to stare at Barry. "Oh my god. Mr. Allen?!"

"No, don't remove your mask, kid. Keep your—or don't," came Stark's unneeded warning to Spider-Man.

"Peter?"

Peter's face of utter disbelief morphed into an excited smile. "You're The Flash!"

"And you're Spider-Man." Peter's expression was contagious that Barry couldn't help but smile back, tension momentarily forgotten.

Stark watched the sudden turn of events from the sidelines, muttering, "Great. This feels like a parent-teacher conference."

* * *

 **TBC**


	4. Multiverse Theory

quick update because I'm driven to make another chapter. unbeta-ed.

* * *

"Welcome, I guess," Barry said, awkwardly shifting at his feet after he changed out of his costume and did some swift cleaning of the clutters around the apartment. Barry remained clueless as to where the mess even came from; he recalled cleaning before he left, for goodness' sake.

Well, it wasn't like they were expecting guests in the first place, and certainly not one of Barry's students and a billionaire.

"Cute suit," Stark commented. "Does it come in different colors?"

"Only red."

"I like it red," Peter said, apparently in glee at seeing The Flash's suit up close. He wasn't as fascinated as this with the Iron Spider Armor that Stark offered. Tony wondered what the hell was impressive about a spandex costume compared to the suit—powered exoskeleton, more like—that was personally made by him.

"Thanks, Peter," Cisco piped up. He liked Peter since he knew him only as Spider-Man and more so when he introduced himself to Cisco and apologized for the intrusion earlier. Stark, on the other hand…

"You made this?" Stark asked, turning to Cisco's direction. "You're The Flash's guy on the chair."

Barry cleared his throat. "Cisco is the only person upgrading and maintaining my suit since he developed it," he said. "He's more than The Flash's guy on the chair."

"Is 'Cisco' your vigilante name? Then your abilities are like something connected to networking? No pun intended."

"It's a short for Francisco, Mr. Stark," Peter whispered subtly. Barry and Cisco appreciated the sheepish look Peter gave them as Stark inspected Cisco's workplace and taking a lollipop from Cisco's stash. "You know, Mr. Ramon, my best friend, Ned, is my partner too, and he was really good in assisting me through the line. And, oh, he kind of hacked my Spider-Man suit out of the _Training Wheels_ Protocol that Mr. Stark installed. I'm sure you two will get along."

When he noticed the eye roll that Stark did, Cisco decided that he really liked Peter. "Introduce me next time, buddy. Also, it's Cisco to you."

"So, where's that story you owe us, Barry?" Stark sat importantly, cross-legged, at the small squishy couch that Barry got from a second-hand store. "Sit down, Peter. You need to know about your chemistry teacher too."

Barry found a comfortable position for himself while Cisco sat at his chair by the computer table. Barry opted for the unoccupied foldable chair. "As I was saying, we're not from around here. We're from… another Earth."

He let the silence linger, giving time for the revelation to sink down on them first. As expected, Peter stared at him like he grew another head, directing his direction to Cisco who merely shrugged.

Stark was—well, he barely batted an eye. "Go on."

"I'm sure you're familiar with the Multiverse Theory. It was no longer just a theory from where we came from. We do acknowledge it, although it was only proven recently; since meta-humans emerged, that is, so it's only known by a handful."

"What's a 'meta-human', sir?" Peter asked curiously once he recovered from his shock. "And how did you prove the Multiverse Theory?"

Barry smiled at Peter's eagerness to know more. "Meta-humans are what we call the people like me and Cisco, those who gained supernatural abilities after the explosion of the Particle Accelerator in the year 2013 in our Earth," Barry explained. "Unfortunately, most of those who became meta-humans were either convicts or those who got corrupted by their powers.

"As for proof of the Multiverse, it was because of a singularity from our Earth that caused a breach. Eventually, an evil speedster from the parallel earth that we call Earth-2 learned how to cross through dimensions with a considerable amount of speed, much greater than I had when I was starting as The Flash. Since we became aware of other earths, we gained a few allies from some that we knew of. There's an Earth-38 that I accidentally visited once after I opened a wormhole by going past my speed limit. A woman who was originally from another planet and is currently living in planet earth there helped me get back to Earth-1. She's called Supergirl in her world, and we asked for her assistance regarding an alien invasion. Not every earth is non-hostile though. We're told before that there's such an earth where Hitler won the World War II. We haven't been there yet, and hopefully we don't come across it. We're lucky to land here instead despite our inability to get back, now that our usual solutions are not working."

"Can't you open a wormhole again?" Peter inquired. "You said you did it by accident."

"With a tachyon prototype, which this Earth doesn't have."

"My abilities aren't working too in this Earth," Cisco said. "I can open interdimensional breaches on any other earth. I've been trying to do that for three months here. Still unsuccessful."

Stark raised an eyebrow. He has been bafflingly quiet for a while. "Now that's just lazy writing."

"What?"

"Nothing. Do continue."

Cisco warily glanced away. "Right. So my meta-human ability is dimension energy manipulation that basically includes dimension awareness and interdimensional travel. I have a psychic link to the natural energies of reality, allowing me to connect with various vibrations of the Multiverse and manipulate them. If I have my powers, I can demonstrate what I call 'vibing' where I can perceive various events through time and space. I can see into the past, the future, and the present happening in another place, as well as what's currently happening in a parallel dimension. Even to the Speed Force itself."

Barry continued, "And the Speed Force is where I get my speed like all the other speedsters like me do. I can physically see it after I went past Mach 2 once." Which usually caused accidental time travels, Barry thought wryly. "The Speed Force is still vague and unexplored even by us speedsters."

"There's more like you?"

"There's a Flash in almost every earth we've been to, some who got their powers earlier than me."

"Wicked."

Peter's fanboy nature was uplifting, making Barry grin. "It is."

"Lemme guess," Stark said, gesturing at Barry and Cisco. "You two were on your way to another Earth, because, what, you eloped?"

"What? No." It was Cisco who immediately jumped in their defense, much to Stark's mild surprise. "Hey, I mean, I love my best friend, but not _that_ way."

"No need to be defensive." Stark raised his hands in surrender. "Vibe."

"Now, how did you know my superhero name?"

"You strike me as somebody with a case of bad naming sense." Tony noticed that Barry was unable to meet his eyes. "Figures."

"Hey! I'll have you know that I gave the best names," Cisco said, looking utterly indignant in contrast to Stark's triumphant expression. "It's not like they're complaining," he murmured.

"To answer your question, Mr. Stark," Barry interrupted. "We were on our way to Earth-2 to visit out friend when the breach Cisco opened lead us to here instead. It was the first time it happened." He borrowed the extrapolator from Cisco, showing it to Stark. "This is an interdimensional extrapolator that Cisco made."

"We have one with us for cases like this, but it's not resonating with the vibrations of this Earth even after tweaking it," Cisco explained after seeing Stark expressing a sudden interest since he set foot at the apartment.

Tony inspected the curious item. It looked like a toy, but his watch was definitely picking up long distance radio waves. While Tony remained undecided on what was the truth in what these two said, their story was also too ridiculous for a lie—that, or Barry Allen took his word and really did his worst. But in a world where there were aliens and gods, why not add Multiverse to that pile as well?

"It looks like a Beyblade," Peter commented, studying at the extrapolator from Tony's left. "And this can open a path to another Earth? So cool."

"At least, that's what they claim," Tony answered for them, standing and tucking the extrapolator to his breast pocket. "Tell you what, I'll be keeping this to see if it is exactly what you claim." Tony tutted at Cisco's incoming retort. "No buts, young Tommy Wiseau. I'll return it once I'm done playing with it. Chill."

"That's the one thing we have that could be our only chance back, and you're keeping it. Of course I'm worried!"

Barry was on alert, standing between Stark and Cisco. It was rare for Cisco to be this livid, and Stark was certainly not helping the situation. "He's right, Mr. Stark. I don't think we can afford to make another one with our limited resources."

Tony met Barry's eyes squarely. Barry could easily snatch the thing from him without Tony even realizing it. It would be like snatching a candy from a kid— _and yet he isn't even planning to make a move._ Was Barry too determined to have Tony believe them?

Stark was thoughtful for a few seconds before reaching for his pocket to retrieve a business card and a phone, handing them to Cisco. "Compensation for your device. HR will call you in that stark phone to tell you about your scheduled interview."

"Interview for… what?"

"Work. And, oh, be sure to bring with you the documented list of the Flash's suit's features, together with your résumé, of course. Toodles."

* * *

"Did he just ask me to work at Stark Industries? Stark Industries that is like the S.T.A.R. Labs of this Earth, except it's a multinational industrial company and the largest tech conglomerate of the world? Wow."

Barry grinned. "I heard that too, by the way."

"Huh. He's rude, but he's generous." Cisco stared dumbly at the stark phone given to him. "I don't know who's worse in terms of unpredictability—Tony Stark or Harry."

At the mention of Harry, Barry wondered what they could be doing. Were they looking for them? Did they even know he and Cisco were in another earth? "I guess this means our luck hasn't run out yet. Mr. Stark can help you with the extrapolator, I think."

"You're right. As of now, he's our best shot." Cisco crossed his arms, leaning his shoulder against the wall. "How about you though? Are you fine with me telling him about your suit's features? There's a possibility that your suit's weaknesses can be exploited."

"The Flash's suit is yours as much as it's mine. Since you can't physically bring it, I suppose the documentation will serve as your portfolio. Sort of a test of your expertise, I bet." Barry leaned back at the seat. "This is your chance, too, to show him who Cisco Ramon is when he's not Vibe.

"Go break a leg, Cisco. You can do it."

* * *

 **TBC**


	5. The Portal

unbeta-ed

* * *

Tony stared at the traces of unknown variables that FRIDAY detected on the extrapolator he borrowed.

"Are you sure they aren't any that we've encountered before, even from the Tesseract and Loki's staff?" He tried again, hand rubbing at his face. His system was advanced enough to even recognize foreign traces from Thor's hammer and Chitauri weapons, as well as his invented element, 'Badassium', as he called it, and yet this small Beyblade-looking thing was becoming like a puzzle that Tony has to solve.

A part of Tony's mind has been suggesting that maybe those two were telling the truth. The simplicity of the excuse was what Tony found difficult to accept. An accidental dimension traveler? Why now? Why now when The Avengers weren't in their original strength, when they were perfectly divided in two? The last time earth got unknown visitors, they wanted to invade earth. Tony's paranoia was borne from that, which led to Ultron, which resulted to certain events that put The Avengers, at least what remained of it, in the current situation.

It was so easy to believe Barry and Cisco's story, but at the same time the consequences should Tony trusted the wrong people with uncanny abilities would be bringing down another strain on the civilians.

"Boss, you've been awake for twenty-seven hours, and the last time you had eaten was twelve hours ago," FRIDAY reminded him.

Tony petulantly ignored the reminder, returning to his magnifier.

"I've called for Colonel Rhodes," FRIDAY chirped.

"What? No, abort!"

There was an elevator ding where Rhodey emerged, limping unnoticeably as he made his way to Tony's workshop. Tony crossed his arms, childishly sulking at Rhodey's shake of his head upon arriving and seeing Tony's messy state and added layer of eye bags.

"Hi."

"FRIDAY called me," Rhodey said, a bit exasperated. "You've been at it again."

"I promised her that I'll sleep once I'm done," Tony argued.

"Which won't be for hours since you're on a stump, boss," FRIDAY supplied.

"You? On a stump?" Rhodey raised an eyebrow, eyes darting at the object Tony was holding. "Is that a new feature you're adding to the suit?"

Tony shrugged. It would have been easier if that was the case. "This isn't even mine."

"What is it then?"

"Probably a shuriken, for all I know."

Tony threw the extrapolator to the nearby table, only for it to give a fizzling sound that he heard it produce for the first time before a bluish, plate-sized cluster of bubble-like thing suddenly appeared at the space above the extrapolator as if hovering.

"Alright, what the hell was that?" Rhodey exclaimed exactly what Tony's reaction was. He instinctually moved beside Tony's seat.

Tony stood, eyeing the bubble cloud thing in curiosity. Tentatively, he poked it with a finger; he wasn't sure what he was expecting to feel upon touching it, but there was nothing, like poking only an empty space.

Rhodey leaned closer in wonder at the thing as Tony absently grabbed a pen lying about. Rhodey stood away when Tony tested the bubble by throwing the pen through it.

The pen vanished once it passed through, and so was the bubble cloud.

Silence dawned on them that even FRIDAY wasn't speaking on the background. It was a full five seconds before a sound of something falling rang distantly.

"It was from your personal restroom, boss," FRIDAY piped up, making Tony rush immediately to the restroom.

There on the floor was the unassuming pen he threw and ending up meters away. He inspected the pen—nothing seemed to change in its composition at single glance. He ran a deeper inspection that gave him results of the pen having a trace of the of one of the components he detected from the extrapolator as if a residue.

"Was that a portal?" Rhodey asked. "Where did you get that thing exactly?"

"From people of another dimension."

"What, like aliens? That's Chitauri tech?"

"Calling them aliens sound so simplistic, Rhodey," Tony said, slumping back on his rotating chair. "Thor and Loki are aliens, from another planet entirely. No, the people I'm telling you has another set of universe for themselves," he explained in fewer words as possible, mind running back on the Multiverse Theory.

"And they're here in New York," Rhodey concluded. "Why weren't we alerted of their arrival?"

"One, they refuse to make a spectacle that will draw attention to them. Two, they didn't come here the same way Loki did. Three, these two are people who are obviously smart with or without their powers. One of them made that extrapolator that looks like a toy, except it can make doorways that can transport them to another dimension, and this isn't even their primary transport."

Rhodey's back found the edge of the table. "Should we be worried?"

 _Yes_ was the logical answer. "I met them the day before yesterday. One works as a chemistry instructor in Midtown and the other in a local computer repair shop."

"You met them alone?"

"I was with Peter."

"That's not the point, Tony. You said these are people with abilities too, and you blindly charged there with the kid."

"Because I asked for their story," Tony said. "And frankly, I wasn't worried because one mentioned that their powers aren't working in this earth, which made them stuck here in the first place."

"And the other?"

"The other is a vigilante, sometimes helping Peter. Some guy in red spandex that would have given Captain America a run for his money."

Rhodey's perplexed expression morphed into recognition. "Oh, you mean The Flash?" The look Tony gave him screamed 'you know him?'. "I often read on the internet, you know. The news could only entertain you so much while you're sitting or lying down most of the time."

"Of course."

"So one of them is that speed guy, huh. Is he like Wanda's brother?"

"Faster, actually. A little over Mach 2, and it isn't even his calculated top speed."

Rhodey whistled. "Well, he certainly knew how to keep a low profile despite that. Imagine Ross twisting his panties once he finds out."

Tony snorted. "He'll certainly come up with something for The Flash to sign."

Rhodey shook his head. "So what now?"

"One of them has to be called in as early as tomorrow, and you'll be there with me."

* * *

At the looming building of Stark Industries, Cisco couldn't help but be reminded of the day he applied for S.T.A.R. Labs.

Cisco felt wildly out of place at the men in corporate attires that he passed by. He was suddenly conscious of his ensemble of dark jacket hoodie, a faded band shirt underneath, dark pants, and white sneakers. Maybe he should have tied his hair to give a neat impression.

Even at S.T.A.R. Labs, he didn't feel this shabby.

Cisco awkwardly gave thanks as the receptionist directed him to his interview with a Miss Virginia Potts. When he arrived outside the door of Miss Potts office, he thought there was a mistake because the plated label indicated that it was the CEO's office.

He lingered around for a good three minutes, not sure how to proceed, when an attractive woman with a kind smile exited, immediately finding Cisco out there.

"Are you Mr. Francisco Ramon, by any chance?" she asked knowingly.

Cisco didn't dwell on how she could have known that. "Ah, yes. I might be lost, because I'm supposed to be interviewed by the HR."

She looked amused at the reply. "On the contrary, I think you're in the right place. Apologies, my assistant is currently out so there was nobody to guide you in." She opened the door wider. "The hallway isn't really the best place to conduct the interview. Come on in."

Oh, god, the CEO herself opened the door for Cisco. He almost missed when she asked him to sit down. He settled down the hard bound documentation that he compiled yesterday just as Stark asked him. Cisco expected the man to be present, but oddly enough, he wasn't here.

"You're highly recommended by Mr. Stark, actually. He said he saw your inventions and was impressed. That man is rarely impressed when it comes to inventions, I'll have you know, so I have high expectations of you as well."

Was Stark talking about the Flash's suit or the extrapolator that he nicked from them?

"Um, thanks."

She smiled. "Your résumé says that you're a graduate of Mechanical Engineering, and you have experience working on the field from the company you were previously employed, S.T.A.R. Labs. You've listed quite a number of projects that you've worked on. Among those, give me one or two that you deem memor—"

The door opened, with Stark breezing in with his sunglasses and a greeting of: "Hey, Pep!" There was another man following him closely, looking apologetic at Ms. Potts for Stark's unceremonious arrival. Ms. Potts, meanwhile, seemed to have taken it all in a stride like this was a normal occurrence. It probably was.

Stark laid a hand on Cisco's shoulder, patting him as if an old time friend. "If you don't mind, this young man will be joining Rhodey and me downstairs to do a bit of sciencing. You know, the usual men's night out. Cisco here is really good." He winked at her before turning to Cisco. "Right, buddy?"

Buddy? Cisco could only stare blankly before he was almost lifted by the shoulders by both Stark and the Rhodey fella, and boy, they were strong enough to pull Cisco up from his seat and out through the door without so much of a good bye to Ms. Potts.

"What 'men's night out'? It's not even evening yet!" was the first thing that left Cisco once he was let go outside.

Stark ushered him to the elevator before answering. "That's a perfect excuse. And I have the good colonel here. Pep knows I'll behave when I'm with him."

Cisco missed the way Rhodey rolled his eyes. Cisco stood straighter and slightly wary out of his not so good experience with military officers. "Erm, sir."

"Hello. Tony told me about you," Rhodey said good-naturedly, but Cisco could see from his stance that he was on alert despite the apparent leg injury he has.

 _Wait. Military guy who is close friends with Tony Stark and was recently in an injury…_ "You're War Machine?"

Rhodey smirked. "You've been doing your research."

"I try to," Cisco mumbled as the elevator dinged, signaling that they were on their destination—the floor below the ground floor, seemed like. _Underground?_

"Welcome to the Underground Bunker," Stark said, allowing Cisco to exit first.

And… wow.

Calling it underground bunker was making it sound so primitive, but what met Cisco was a state of the art mini-robotics lab for a three-man team at most. Still, it dwarfed Cisco's tinkering space at S.T.A.R. Labs, making it seemed like a dumping ground for failed projects. If a small space as this was enough to be amazing at its own, he couldn't imagine what Stark's own lab looked like.

"Good morning, Mr. Ramon," a female voice that came from the ceiling greeted Cisco. It seemed organic, but at the same time there was a mechanical lilt in it.

"Was that an AI?" Cisco asked, turning to Stark. "That's so cool."

"Usually, they asked first where the voice came from," Stark said. "And, yes, that's FRIDAY, by the way."

"Oh, hello, FRIDAY."

Stark clapped his hand. "Now that pleasantries out of the way, let's get straight to the point." Cisco watched him move towards a table barred of any objects sans the extrapolator that he 'borrowed'. "I may have some questions about this thing."

"Honestly, I'm kinda surprised you haven't picked it apart yet," Cisco said dryly, walking towards the extrapolator to examine it.

"Did that and assembled it again. Wasn't difficult, nothing different inside."

"Except it can make a small portal," Rhodey muttered.

It didn't go past Cisco. "Wait, what? You made it work?" Mouth hanging open, he lifted the extrapolator for closer inspection.

"What do you expect?" Alright, Cisco would let that haughtiness slide. "It just took a few tweaks."

"It took boss twenty hours to tweak it, and seven more to analyze the traces of materials that we found. Unfortunately, they do not match any of our records," FRIDAY said from above. "Please direct your attention to the display, Mr. Ramon."

Stark complained on the background that she didn't have to say that, while Cisco was given the data results displayed on a huge monitor, mostly showing what he already knew the extrapolator has and remembered that most were unique on Earth-1. He helpfully listed the names to FRIDAY who graciously listened to him.

He pointed at the element that showed the highest percentage of presence on both the extrapolator and the pen that Stark tested through the portal. "That one is what we call Dark Matter. It's present on meta-humans and lingered on objects that their abilities touched. It doesn't really have any effect on things except when a meta-human purposely influenced it."

"So the Multiverse Theory and Dark Matter aren't hypothetical anymore from where you came from," Stark said, thoughtful. He was somewhat surprised that Barry and Cisco's earth hasn't fallen apart yet due to entities and variables that they have to account for. Heck, discovering the existence of aliens alone was a pain in the ass.

"How many earths exactly are there?" Rhodey asked, utterly perplexed. Last time he heard regarding space, there were different planets outside the Solar System.

Cisco helpfully gave him a rundown of what he and Barry explained to Stark and Peter a few days ago. He could see that Rhodey wasn't a man of science and discovery but was curious to know more about the universe he lived in. Cisco could admire that.

"It's only small, you said, but that's achievement enough to me," he told Stark. "You've given me a stepping stone to move forward, and that's something I could work on. Thank you," he said, sincere. Stark didn't make an impression to him with a _pleasing_ personality, but he was an intellectual indeed.

Stark looked startled to be thanked at, though he composed himself just as quick, shrugging nonchalantly. "Sure. Let's make a deal: I help you as long as you work on it in here and working under my or FRIDAY's supervision. How's that?"

That… wasn't a bad idea. "Deal."

"That fast?"

"Could always use a fresh set of eyes."

Stark crossed his arms, glancing at his companion. "Fine."

Cisco couldn't really tell when it came to Stark. Oh, well, he might as well let it be. It seemed like they would be going home sooner.

* * *

 **TBC**


	6. Break Time

unbeta-ed

* * *

"Did you get him?" Flash asked the moment Spider-Man landed softly on his side.

Spider-Man paused before scrambling for his backpack and gingerly plucked something out from the bag.

Flash cooed upon coming closer. "Well, seems like he's okay. Mrs. Burton is worried what might have happened to him. Is he sleeping?"

"Well, they sleep most of time. At least, the one I used to have."

"You had one? Wow. Usually, it's either a dog or a cat."

"We have limited space in the apartment, so I went for something small. They're also low maintenance and nice to play with."

"Until they spiked up," Flash murmured.

Spider-Man's face might be covered, but there was unmistakable wince there. "Yeah. It took a while for him to warm up to me. Do you have a pet back home?"

"I don't. But now that you mention it, I might get one. Any suggestions?"

"Um, get yourself a Jonathan maybe?"

Flash chuckled. "Yeah, maybe I should."

"Paint him blue. He can make a good mascot for your team."

Flash grinned. "We'll see about that."

Flash carefully poked the hedgehog's head, making it wiggle to curl into a ball, thankfully without having the quills shot out.

"Alright, Jonathan, time to get you home."

* * *

They found themselves on an empty rooftop of a nearby abandoned building. It was a peaceful break, considering, after covering most ground and swinging on buildings of the city. There were boxes of take outs and pizzas between them, together with a few cans of sodas. And it was beginning to feel like a sleepover or a picnic than a nightly patrol.

Not that they would have it any other way.

"So what abilities do you have other than super speed?" Peter asked after munching.

"Fast healing?" Barry wondered if he should say accidental time travel as well. "I can phase through solid objects too."

Peter perked up at that. Barry hasn't demonstrated that yet. "Oh yeah?"

"Watch."

Barry aligned the five empty boxes of pizza and vibrated his arm. He slid his hand through the cartons and removed it again, handing to Peter for inspection the flattened boxes without any hole in it.

Peter gasped in amazement. "You mean, you can literally pass through anything? How about walls?"

"I can pass the dimension barrier, so yeah, I can pass through walls as well."

"Ohhh. Can you demonstrate it with something harder than cartons?" Peter was thoughtful for a second. "Um, walls, maybe?"

Barry hummed. "How about you wait for me on the ground floor of this building?"

"You'll do it? Awesome."

Barry shook his head in amusement after Peter leaped past the railing for a dive below.

There was way too much energy in Peter that he couldn't easily sit still for more than an hour.

* * *

"Karen, are you getting this?"

 _"I am. Would you like a copy sent to your phone?"_

"Sure!"

Barry stopped his vibrations entirely, looking at Peter curiously with a slight tilt of his head. "I never asked, but who's Karen?"

"She's an AI embedded on my suit. Mr. Stark created her too. Say hi, Karen."

 _"Hello, Mr. Allen,"_ Karen's voice rang. It was like from a phone on loudspeakers, except her voice was clearer.

"Hi there!" Barry returned just as enthusiastically. "You're Peter's handy companion, I see."

"She's like my conscience, actually, but she's literally speaking," Peter shared. "She also records what I see through the mask—um, you don't mind, do you, sir? That phasing thing was really something so I asked her to record it."

"I don't mind." Barry shrugged and then playfully nudged Peter on his shoulder. "Save the 'sir' for the class. We're both masked men tonight."

Men, huh? That was the first time Peter heard he was called one. Usually, he was the kid, or that teenager with high-pitched voice.

"So, how about you? Any other abilities?"

"Karen told me ones about the web combinations I have. Haven't tried them all, but I've seen some at work."

"That must be some heavy bad guy to stop if you had to use a lot."

Peter scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Not really. I need to pass the time when it happened. I kinda got stuck on a warehouse?"

He must be red from embarrassment when Barry began laughing as he told the story.

* * *

"So these are the upgraded web-shooters? And the first version was made by you?"

"There were some materials at home. I do the web formula at the chem lab because the school have the chemicals I need— _did_ the web formula, I mean, because I never slacked at your class, I swear!"

"You designed and built your web-shooters and web formula by yourself." Barry's lips quirked into a grin. "That's amazing in itself. Honestly, after finding out that you're Spider-Man, I won't be mad if you're stirring on a flask and hiding it on the drawer."

Wasn't that close to what Peter did in chemistry class before? He chuckled nervously. "Still, it's class hour, so…"

"Tell you what, when I'm in the middle of lecture and I suddenly asked for a bathroom break, that was me stopping a few nearby crimes."

Mr. Allen's stories of stopping crimes in the middle of class hours was definitely better than Peter's assumption that Mr. Allen often has an upset stomach.

* * *

"Oh my god. Can we post that?"

"Go for it, but won't they know you're Spider-Man?"

"Nah. Spider-Man has his own account."

* * *

"Ah, the days when they used to steal only a couple of TVs at JC Penny."

"And when they used to deal in illegal arms? Yeah, read about that too."

"Now they smuggle weird techs with names you can't pronounce."

"Some are alien techs that they never bothered to name. As long as they cause more boom."

"I'm glad that my earth never attempted to mess with the Dominator tech. Imagine that."

"What do they look like, the aliens from your own universe?"

"They look… alien-y enough."

"Uh, like the alien from _Alien_?"

"You have that movie too? I suppose the Dominators are like that, but not as long. They're tall, though. Bipedal, wrinkled-like skin, multi-fanged mouth, and red skull. They're intelligent and bilingual."

"That's… wow."

"Yeah. So how about the aliens here?"

"There's the alien alien, and there's the good-looking ones."

"Good-looking?"

"Thor and his brother, Loki, are technically aliens, because they're from Asgard, another planet to my understanding. They look like Hollywood actors, by the way."

"Right. I've seen pictures of them online. Though, I suppose, yes, there's a good-looking alien that I know too, but she's from a different earth. The Supergirl I told you about. She has this cousin too, and they call him Superman in their world. I heard that their planet was destroyed so they had to flee to earth."

"Does your earth have them too, Superman and Supergirl?"

"We don't. It's one of the many differences our earth has over theirs. When I checked, I don't exist there too, like in here. Sometimes you get this versions of earth that look exactly the same from where you came from, sometimes they're entirely different. On the earth where Cisco and I were supposed to arrive, I met another version of mine there. He's not the Flash, but a CSI who's married to… the girl he really likes. He's happy that way, and I admit, that's a more peaceful life."

"…You left a lot of people, didn't you?"

"Let's see. My foster family, Joe and Iris. And there's the teammate of ours, Caitlin. She's probably worried sick and already contacted Harry, a friend of ours from Earth-2. I'm sure that they're doing their best as well to locate us. If Cisco and I couldn't return from here, then I trust them to bring us back. There's also this other team, the Team Arrow, who must have heard the news. The Green Arrow is a friend from a neighboring city. He isn't a meta-human, but he might as well be with how precise he shoots his target. I believe The Avengers have the same guy in the team?"

"You must be talking about Mr. Barton. Hawkeye. Unfortunately, he was on Cap's team. He seems nice—all of them are nice, I bet, if we were on a different situation."

"Why did you join? It's alright if you don't want to answer; it's rather personal."

"It's fine. I tend to give myself a lot of excuses and to others a mini speech on how with great power comes great responsibility, but if I'm asked directly, the answer boils down to proving myself capable. People like Tony Stark don't just knock door-to-door on any apartments, and he's certainly not the type to make costumes for a kid who had a get up of red tights and goggles. I like to impress him, because that way I feel worthy of what he's giving me."

Barry glanced at him, smiling. "Thank you, for being honest. I gotta say, if I were in your shoes, I would be doing exactly the same. But I'm an adult, so in a way, I also know what an adult thinks of a younger man trying to impress him." He remembered Stark confronting him that night. Stark has that air of arrogance, but his heart was clearly in the right place if he was worried for Peter and how he would be affected by Barry's role as his teacher and an unknown vigilante that came out of nowhere. "Mr. Stark's priority will always be your safety, maybe that was why he gave you a new suit when he asked you to join his side. You being there was enough to impress him." He reached out to ruffle Peter's head. "I know that you're feeling inadequate. I understand; I felt like that too when I was your age. But you know what? Powers or not, you could help others in your own way, and giving aid is the best reward there is. And for me, you're impressive already as Peter Parker, the young man with a promising future."

Peter reddened at the encouraging pats on the head and the praise that he got. Aunt May used to say that she was proud of him, and that was nice too, but she didn't know what he was out here during evenings and donning the Spider-Man costume. Mr. Stark was the opposite: he knew Peter as the Spider-Man, but he never saw the high school student struggling with assignments and grades.

With Mr. Allen knowing the both sides of him, it meant a great deal what he said. Peter was right to idolize him despite knowing him for only a short while.

Mr. Allen was the kind of person that Peter could see himself becoming similar to, one day.

* * *

"Judging from your huge grin, it's a good news," Barry said knowingly after changing out of his suit. Cisco lifted the extrapolator, and Barry immediately caught on. "You did it?" he asked incredulously.

Cisco nodded vigorously, hitting the high-five that Barry initiated. "Not without help, of course, and the thing is, the portal has to be opened at Stark's lab at Stark Industries. Apparently, it can only do so there, and the portal has to be conjured first before it can be widened for us to pass through."

"Still. Cisco, that's impressive."

"Heh. Yeah, I should give myself a pat on the back too." It was another one to add on his list of accomplishments. "So, the day after tomorrow?"

Barry blinked. "Wait. We can go as early as that?"

"Yep. It takes only half an hour to set it up, you know. And Stark said I could just give him a ring to tell him when."

Barry was elated at the news, truly, but there was a pang of something else in there that he didn't expect. He recalled his attentive students and Midtown. He wasn't particularly attached to the whole school and the student body, though he taught a number of them. _And got close with an earnest one_.

"Barry?"

"Oh, sorry. It's just that—hey, I know you did a lot of work here, and I'm lucky that you're with me, but can I ask a small request? Can you, uh, hold it off for until Wednesday, the 28th. Allow me to be their chaperone for their field trip at the museum as a… goodbye to them, and then we can go at the evening. If that's okay to you, that is."

Cisco raised an eyebrow. "They grew on you, huh?"

"They did. It's my first time teaching, but I didn't know it could be quite an experience. But honestly, it's Peter that I grew to know more."

"I know. You could see yourself in him." Cisco shrugged. "I don't really mind. I like the kid too. I was thinking of letting Stark tell him our departure instead, but that will be quite rude. Go on, Barry. You formed more ties here than me."

"Thank you, Cisco."

* * *

 **TBC**


	7. Premonition

ubeta-ed

* * *

"What's this?" Rhodey asked, peering at the transparent glass box under brighter lighting. "A microchip?"

"It's uh, a little project of mine, aside from fixing my gloves, that I started when the extrapolator was done. To kill the time." Cisco shifted on his feet unsurely. "It's for you, actually."

"Huh?"

Cisco seemed hesitant to gesture at Rhodey's legs. "I've read about your spinal injury two years ago, and I noticed that you're already managing just well with what Stark gave you, but I thought I could, um, help you walk again without you needing the harness." He hastily added, "If you don't mind, that is."

Rhodey was silent, not sparing Cisco a look and handling the microchip container like a matchbox. "This could help me walk?"

"You'll regain the feeling on your legs once you have it surgically attached to your spinal cord. But I suggest not now—have it run by Stark first, I mean. It's all experimental, tested by two people so far, and I know Stark could help improve it much better. Besides, I think you'll be more comfortable to use it if Stark approved of it. I know it isn't much, but—"

"Isn't much? Are you hearing yourself?" Rhodey interrupted. "This—look, we have flying metal suits and all that, but this is a helpful breakthrough. You could be rich and help others with this, and you're just giving it to me."

"I don't want to take all the credit for it. The idea is from two of my friends, one of them paralyzed before from waist down. I think that was what drove her to create this. The two of them shared it with me, and I think it's safe to share it to another universe who doesn't have it yet. And as I said, it's all experimental, so…"

"You're really something else, are you?" Rhodey shook his head amusedly. "Honestly, I was even suspicious when I heard about you from Tony, and I'm basically here for the sake of gauging you for myself. Then you go gave me a gift. I—Thank you. I don't know what I did to earn it."

"I think being a buffer to Stark's motor-mouth is enough to warrant you that," Cisco said with a grin.

* * *

"Any reason in particular why it has to be tonight?" Stark asked with a tone of disinterest, but Cisco wasn't blind to the hidden intrigue.

"Barry suggested it. He said something about the school's field trip to MOMA. They left an hour ago, I think."

Stark made a show of checking his watch. "More time for me and Pepper then." He turned to Cisco with a raised eyebrow. "How about you?"

"Tweak some things I have, I guess."

He didn't know if Stark's silence at seeing his vibe gloves was a sign of neutrality or distaste at the design. Stark thankfully didn't comment. "Right." He observed Cisco's temporary workspace at his own mini lab, before saying, "Rhodey told me about the trinket you gave him."

Expect Stark to call a microchip a trinket. Cisco sighed. Here we go again. "Yeah, I know it's not on par with any of your—"

"Shush. Let me finish," Stark butted in. "I've never seen him that excited since I released the first Iron Man suit, but it's more than that. I don't even care if it doesn't work, because I'll make it work for him. I'm just kinda hurt I didn't think of it soon."

Sometimes… sometimes Cisco didn't know whether to laugh or be annoyed at Stark. It was one of those days, so he opted to rolling his eyes, chuckling. "A microchip has nothing on a full-bodied metal suit, so I doubt you'd pay attention to something that small."

"Correction, I was into nanites recently." Another rolling of the eyes as if saying that wasn't the point. "Fine. I know what you mean. There's some truth in that," he admitted, albeit begrudgingly.

"Yeah yeah. Thanks, though, for letting me in here, I guess. The lab is a sacred place for people like us."

"More or less."

"And thanks to FRIDAY too. Really appreciate your inputs."

 _"Always a pleasure, Mr. Ramon."_

"Ah, you and Gideon would have been good friends," Cisco said, wistful. "And _you_ would surely be popular in our earth."

Stark smirked. "No surprises there."

"Not in a good way, really."

"Same difference."

A sigh escaped Cisco. "Just—just shake my hand."

Stark stared at the proffered hand as if it was a thing of wonder before agreeing to the gesture, frowning. Cisco wondered if it meant that Stark wasn't used with this. _That would be impossible._

For a talkative person, it was interesting to find out that Stark's sincerity was shown more in his actions. He never uttered any word of gratitude about taking Rhodey's partial disability into consideration, but Cisco knew that Stark already thanked him in his own way even as the man immediately turned to leave afterwards to meet with his fiancé, giving a casual wave over the shoulder.

Cisco was left to check on his phone, finding a short text from Barry that said they were halfway there. Cisco was debating whether to take the Stark phone as a souvenir tech of sorts; Stark probably wouldn't mind, though he would still ask, regardless.

It wasn't even ten minutes past when he was assaulted with an onslaught of different sensations. It might have been a while since he last did it, but he could never forget what vibing felt like.

He was instantaneously on a strange land that was desolated and surrounded by wreckage, and it could have been the first thing that Cisco noticed, because he knew then that it wasn't a place that he had seen before—nor was it any other earth for that matter; a planet of this universe then? There was a woman—or at least who seemed humanoid enough despite her blue skin.

Though what grabbed Cisco's attention was Stark, dirtied, bloodied, and on his knees like he was fresh out of battle, and on the ground was Peter who appeared to be pleading for something that Cisco couldn't hear with their voices sounding so distant.

And then Peter vanished.

It was a slow process of turning akin to a fine grain of sand before dissolving into thin air, until there was nothing.

Peter died in Cisco's vision.

Peter died right in front of Stark's eyes.

Cisco was pulled back into reality, panting heavily. Disoriented, he barely heard FRIDAY's concerned inquiry and her placing of a call for 911. He stopped her quickly.

 _"Are you sure, Mr. Ramon? I detect a palpitation and signs linked to panic attacks."_

"No, it's—I think it's my powers. I was vibing," Cisco explained, somehow managing to be coherent with the millions of questions running on his mind. "Can you reach Stark? Please, it's important."

How so would be where the lines get blurry. Cisco's vibe was usually limited to an event currently happening in another parallel dimension. The most distant future he could see was an hour at most, and he has no means of placing the exact time frame of what he saw. How relevant would that scenario be on this dimension plane? Would _that_ be happening in the future of this world and its current time stream?

What Cisco was sure of, though, was that he couldn't afford to take any chances.

* * *

"Hello? Cisco?"

 _"Barry, I don't know how and when, but I need you to keep an eye on Peter. I've been trying to reach Stark, but FRIDAY said that he isn't answering. FRIDAY gave me a location, and I'm on my way there now. This is important I—"_

"Wait, Cisco, slow down," Barry said. His concerned tone wasn't missed by Peter who looked at him. Barry mouthed Cisco's name. "What do you mean I keep an eye on Peter?" Peter's interest suddenly was piqued at the mention of his name. Nobody else seemed to heard it. Even Peter's friend, Ned.

 _"Listen, Barry. I got my powers back a while ago, and I accidentally vibed on Stark, but only after he left did it happen."_ Barry didn't know if what caused the shaky voice was Cisco's running or recounting what he had seen in his vibing. Dread settled in Barry's stomach. _"I saw Peter die."_

The cold swept all over Barry as quickly as it was replaced by his confusion regarding a giant donut-shaped spaceship descending on a nearby city that could be seen from his position. His eyes snapped to Peter in a silent agreement, and it wasn't long when a distraction was made, courtesy of Ned, and Peter was off the bus through an open window.

Barry hastened to the bus driver who was grumbling about the kids not seeing a spaceship before. Barry gave a flimsy excuse of leaving an open stove, saying that he would be after them right away. Mr. Stan looked like he didn't buy it, though in the end stopping the bus and letting Barry out.

 _"Did—Did something happen there?"_

Barry almost forgot about the open line. "We saw the spaceship," he said calmly. "What you said, is there a connection?"

 _"I don't know beyond what I told you. There's a high chance that it is. It seemed like it wouldn't happen here on earth."_ There was loud groan of machinery coming from Cisco's end.

"Please tell me you're not on the site of the spaceship."

 _"I am, and I'm fine. I will be as long as I have my abilities. About Peter—"_

"You don't have to repeat it, Cisco. It affected you greatly, and it's a big deal. I'll catch after Peter," Barry said, preparing for a run to suit up and follow Spider-Man.

"I'll save everybody as fast as I can," was Barry's way of saying goodbye.

* * *

 **TBC**


	8. Children of Thanos

I have no excuse for this late update. :)

Shifting POV within the chapter.

* * *

Cisco staggered to his left, barely dodging the man who ran past him.

"I'm sorry," he said automatically, distracted. His voice was drowned by the noise of people, the erratic horning of vehicles, the whirring of an unknown large ship making its descent, and that deafening ringing in his ears.

His pace was slow, his direction opposite to the torrent of bodies fleeing from the scene. Cisco was vaguely aware where he was presently; a signpost nearby read 43rd Street. His phone began vibrating in his jeans, and as if snapping out of trance, he recalled the call he gave Barry and was reminded what he was doing there in the first place.

Stark. FRIDAY said that Stark's location was here. Cisco needed to find him. Fast.

He ran past the cars that blocked the road. Barry could be here any moment to help evacuate those who didn't manage to. For the meantime, Cisco directed a few to safety, pulling a teenager up when he tripped on his feet and an elderly who was whimpering in terror.

Cisco escaped from his previous location, running towards the intersection where there were hardly any people left and where he could see how huge the unknown ship was, like straight out of a sci-fi movie.

He wasn't standing for too long when the edges of his vision caught red and black. There, a few meters ahead, were four males left standing; one of them was Stark. Cisco wasted no time to approach them.

"Cisco?" Stark noticed him immediately after notifying FRIDAY to evacuate the south of 43rd Street. "What are you doing here?"

One of the other three men with Stark turned to see Cisco, raising his hands to stop him from coming closer. "Sir, please leave for your safety. We'll handle this."

"I'm not a civilian," was Cisco's reply. "I'm here to help."

His response was almost lost amidst the sound of _something_ created by the man with a cape that collided against the spaceship. Like a force field. The whirring halted, hovering a few feet above the ground.

A beam of blue light from the ship came down, revealing two creatures—the best Cisco could describe them. They were bipedal, alright, but they certainly weren't humans, especially with that kind of spaceship and appearance.

Aliens, then.

The smaller alien spoke, in perfect English, how they should rejoice for they would die by the hands of the children of Thanos.

"I don't think death should be rejoiced over?" Cisco couldn't help but mutter. A familiar-looking man with curly hair heard him, giving a mild wry expression as if he was torn between finding it amusing and out of place. Probably both.

As expected, Stark's mouth ran, his sarcasm assaulting the speaking alien _—Did he just called him 'Squidward'?_

The chattering ceased once the larger of the two—definitely on par with the Hulk there but with an armor—adjusted the grip of his huge axe and trudged towards them.

A pair of mandalas appeared on both fists of two strangely-garbed men, one of them the cape guy and one looked like a monk. The curly-haired man stood awkwardly at the back beside Cisco until Stark called him 'Banner', and it all made sense now who this person was.

The Hulk would be their best power against the alien who wasn't only large but also with a weapon. Feeling the adrenaline from an incoming battle where the odds were stacked higher on them not only because of their number and the Hulk, Cisco quickly slipped on his pair of vibe gloves and glasses.

If only Bruce Banner could transform before the alien could get any nearer.

"Dude, you're embarrassing me in front of the wizards," Stark said to Banner. He glanced at Cisco and took in his appearance with distaste. "You _two_ are embarrassing me in front of the wizards."

"Hey, I don't have the time to suit up," Cisco protested uselessly.

"Who's this?" cape guy asked, whirling behind when he heard Cisco's voice. "Last time I checked, there's only four of us."

"Long story, Doc. All you have to know is he's on our side. Don't let the get-up fool you. He has abilities." Stark frowned at Cisco suspiciously. "These aliens and this Thanos don't happen to be from your earth, are they?"

"What? How would I—"

"What do you mean his earth?"

"I thought Thanos is a—"

"Who is this guy, Stark?"

"He said earlier that he's not a civilian."

"Guys!" Cisco yelled. "We can have the question and answer portion for later. In case you forgot, there's a big alien about to lunge towards us."

Stark rolled his eyes as if saying 'duh'. "Alright, stand down, Banner." He looked at Cisco and the monk guy. "Keep an eye on him."

Cisco was treated to an impressive display known as Tony Stark suiting up as Iron Man. And, oh, boy, those internet videos of him doing so before was nothing compared to the nanotech in action. Cisco wasn't foreign to nanites, though he must say the one he saw at work and wrapped itself around Stark to form his armor was state-of-the-art.

Four vertical panes came out of Stark's back armor, releasing four blue beams of laser that shot out to the Hulk-like alien and throwing him back to where him formerly stood.

Cisco wasn't the type to judge an opponent based on their size. He had his fare share of huge opponents, and the largest of the two they were facing now were threatening: these so-called Children of Thanos were threatening, alright. But when Squidward merely raised his hand and made a slight gesture as if swatting away a fly when his companion came back hurtling his way, Cisco immediately knew that the smaller was the more dangerous of the two.

Stark completely missed the simple display of ability, entertaining Banner's awe, and turning his back to the enemy—which was a huge mistake when it wasn't a second longer when the ground sprouted underneath him, throwing him upwards.

The other two men who happened to be sorcerers, as Cisco figured out, were on higher alert. The one Stark called Doc turned to them, saying to Banner that if Hulk wouldn't be joining them, he might as well leave the matter to their hands.

He turned to Cisco. "I don't doubt Stark that you have abilities, but I suggest taking Dr. Banner instead to safety. You can help us by looking after the others who might need help."

Cisco wasn't given the chance to reply when a portal of sorts opened underneath him and Banner, completely transporting them both to a different place altogether that Cisco barely recognized as the park he passed by earlier on the way.

Banner stood, offering him a hand. "You okay?"

"Fine," Cisco breathed, accepting the assist. "You? That was still some fall."

"I've fallen from higher places before."

Cisco wouldn't argue with that. "Where to—"

Stark was suddenly thrown past them. Banner was immediately on his side, asking if Stark was alright. The Hulk-like alien came barreling with all his strength and mighty axe that was apparently able to became a long-ranged weapon.

Cisco would have been fascinated if not for the fact that Iron Man skidded against the grass and collided on a tree, Banner still couldn't transform despite the desperate need of Hulk, and Cisco was still in the middle of the battle.

Instinctively, Cisco put himself between them and the oncoming weapon, pulling out his vibe to quickly produce a breach that the weapon passed through instead. Struggling, Cisco opened another, although intending it to appear behind the alien, it ended up opening to the left of the creature. Not exactly the impact he was hoping for, but it did end up effective in throwing the alien off guard.

"Nice catch," Stark's voice came from his suit. He flew to where the alien was, firing at it until it staggered back by the sheer force of Stark's repulsor rays.

"You're a sorcerer too?" Bruce asked incredulously.

"No, but I can make portals. It's a long story, Dr. Banner," Cisco replied, if only to shake the sudden wave of dizziness that overcame him for a moment. He opened another breach, much smaller this time, when the alien whipped again its versatile weapon—which could be a shield too, _goddamnit_ —against Stark who was akin to a fly buzzing around a bigger animal.

His power might have finally come back, but Cisco could feel that the more he used it, it was gradually becoming out of his control. The only thing that might have been keeping him standing must be his lack of physical exertion, him rooted in one place as opposed to Stark who kept the alien busy. The next breached he opened was far larger in the limited space between Stark and the alien, intending to make it as a shield for Stark that promptly fell out the second black spots appeared at the edges of Cisco's vision. There was something warm dripping from his nose; blood, for sure.

Stark wasn't expecting the breach to collapse. He was rocked by the force of the alien's weapon colliding against his chest, not so different from when he skidded towards the tree earlier. His body was smashed on the ground by a well-aimed hit to his back, sending patches of grass and soil flying. Another hit was about to collide before he could even stand back, but when it didn't come he turned he found Peter standing between him and the weapon, lifting the heavy weight off.

"Kid, where did you came from?"

"The field trip," Peter managed to say before he was grabbed and thrown aside like a ragdoll. A flash of yellow zipped across the area of battle, grabbing Peter by the arm before he could crash on the fountain.

"Thanks, Flash!" Spider-man yelled enthusiastically. "Mr. Stark, what's the deal with this guy?"

Stark fired another beam. "Uh, he's from space. He came to steal a necklace from a wizard."

"What?" came Flash's voice. "Whoah!" A huge, vice-like clamp almost caught him. Flash got out of the way, though Spider-man wasn't quick enough to dodge it, throwing him away once more.

Flash was already there to catch him safely, muttering a quick 'Sorry!' as he zoomed towards the alien and encircling him in faster speed until a fizzle could be heard. Three yellow streaks of lightning shot out from blurred whirl, hitting the alien on the back, arm, and chest. Unfortunately, they were merely shaken off like light stings, unaffected as it blocked Stark's assortment of firearms.

"What the—Cisco!"

Banner pulled Cisco away from the blast of the deflected repulsor beam which burned the trees that fell on top of them. Banner sputtered out the leaves that had gotten in his mouth as Cisco stood back up to catch with breaches Stark's deflected attacks and bringing them back against the alien. His accuracy had improved, but the difficulty in opening another breach didn't ease.

"Hey, you okay?" Banner asked warily. "I don't think they'll mind if you take it easy."

Honestly, Cisco didn't think he could, not when Barry, Peter, and Stark were teaming up with this gigantic alien that had their combined efforts appeared to be useless.

Something red flew past the perimeter, with Stark calling after it. It was the wizard Stark was talking about, Barry heard from Stark as he instructed Peter to follow. Barry's eyes found Cisco, and the two shared a nod. Barry ran along and matched the speed of the levitating body as another alien-looking man was after the same thing as them. Peter wasn't far behind the three of them, swinging with his web from post to post.

A lone sign board hit Peter, and though it didn't deter his pursuit, Barry paused to lessen the impact against the kid. The metal posts on the street curled against their physics to catch the body wrapped with a red cloak. The cloth got hooked, causing the body to drop unceremoniously. Peter caught the man in time, swinging him to Barry to catch. However, a bluish light had sucked the body upwards, with Peter and his web pulled along. Peter held fast, grabbing ahold of a light post briefly before it was uprooted and brought along with him towards the sky.

Barry searched for a nearby concrete wall he could run along. Heights were one of the things he was yet to overcome with his speed, unless there happened to be a tall tower nearby that he could climb on. He has buildings, fortunately, but it wasn't near enough to propel him swiftly midair to reach out Peter by his feet and go with him.

Barry mentally cursed in frustration at his delay. He hoped Peter would look down for just a split-second and decide to extend a web down that Barry could grab on. He didn't, for Peter never once looked back.

Cisco's words rang hollowly inside his head. He saw Stark flew after the ship. Barry knew he wouldn't let the kid be, though it did nothing but add to the mounting dread Barry was feeling

" _I saw Peter die."_

Barry could only hope for the best.

* * *

By the time Barry returned to where Cisco was, his friend was on the floor, unconscious, and the man he was with was there hovering over him with a deep frown and concern. Another man was there, another ally. They were checking on Cisco's vitals by the time Barry arrived.

"What happened?" Barry asked, voice ragged with anxiety.

"He must have exerted himself," the shorter man replied. "He had a nosebleed earlier. Is his power something he's yet to control?"

Barry shook his head. Cisco never had any difficulties with his vibe before, back when they were in their own earth. "He got it long ago, but it wasn't responding to him since we arrived here in this earth."

" _Arrived in this earth?_ " the man repeated confusedly. "Whatever do you mean?"

"I'll tell you the story later, but for now is there anywhere safe we can place him?"

The other man who had been quiet since Barry came opened an orange circle—a portal, by the looks of it, but it was entirely different from Cisco's breach. "The Sanctum remains unguarded with the stone taken." Barry has no idea what that string of words meant. "I have to return, but you two can come with me."

Barry heaved Cisco gently, carrying him as they passed the portal. Peter was gone with that ship, and now Cisco alarmingly collapsed. Barry hoped they would both be alright.

The shorter man who had questions for him followed sedately, his clothes and hair dusty. He was fiddling with his phone at hand, as if he was debating whether to call someone or not. Once they crossed the threshold, the orange circle closed behind them. The man who opened the portal introduced himself to Barry as Wong, leading him past the broken staircase.

Barry turned to look at the man behind him who stopped. "You go on ahead," he said to Barry. "I'm gonna make a call."

* * *

 **TBC**


End file.
